CSR and CSR communication’s effect on prospective employees

The aim of this Master’s Thesis was to examine whether corporate social responsibility and CSR communication has effect on company’s image in the eyes of 18-25 year olds young job seekers and thus study young adults perceptions on these issues. By utilizing previous academic literature a through picture of the main topics was built and by conducting quantitative research, research’s aim was sought to answer. The framework defines the link between research’s main concepts corporate image, CSR and CSR communication and how this can lead to attracting prospective employees. A quantitative research method was applied and an online survey was sent to people whom had applied for L&T by June during the year 2015. Out of these people, those who were aged 18-15 and had vocational education were qualified to answer the survey. The data was analyzed by utilizing statistical analysis and causal relationships were found though which the explanation of perceptions and impacts was possible. The results showed that young adults are influenced by CSR and CSR communication and thus these factors have an impact on prospective employees.

Sopeutumattomien opetuksen tyttöjen sosiaaliset suhteet vertaisiinsa ja opettajiin alakoulussa.

Luokkamuotoista erityisopetusta järjestetään oppilaille, joilla on sosio-emotionaalisia vaikeuksia ja, joiden opetusta ei pystytä yleisopetuksen opetusryhmässä järjestämään. Oppilailla, joilla on sosio-emotionaalisia vaikeuksia, haasteita aiheuttavat niin sosiaaliset kuin emotionaaliset vaikeudet. Näiden ilmenemismuotoja voivat olla mm. haasteet sosiaalisissa suhteissa vertaisten tai koulun aikuisten, opettajien, kanssa, vaikeudet luoda ja ylläpitää ystävyyssuhteita tai yleensä mielekkäitä vuorovaikutussuhteita vertaisiin, itsehillinnän ja impulsiivisuuden haasteet sekä sosiaalisten tilanteiden tulkinnat. Tyttöjen kulttuuri eroaa poikien kulttuurista ja heille asetetaan erilaisia sosiaalisia odotuksia ja tavoitteita kuin pojille. Kilttien ja hiljaisten tyttöjen rooli istuu vahvasti nyky-yhteiskunnassakin. Tytöt edustavat sopeutumattomien opetuksessa selkeää vähemmistöä. Vuonna 2011 Tilastokeskuksen tilaston mukaan tyttöjä oli peruskoulun vuosiluokkien 1-9 luokkamuotoisessa erityisopetuksessa tunne-elämän häiriön tai sosiaalisen sopeutumattomuuden vuoksi vain 6,5 % (Tilastokeskus, tilastoja). Tässä tutkimuksessa on puolistrukturoidun teemahaastattelun keinoin haluttu selvittää sopeutumattomien opetuksen tyttöjen käsityksiä ja kokemuksia sosiaalisista suhteistaan vertaisiin ja opettajiin koulussa. Tutkimus on kvalitatiivinen tutkimus, jonka aineisto on analysoitu teemojen mukaan. Tutkimuksessa on käytetty harkinnanvaraista tutkimusjoukon valintaa ja se on toteutettu eräässä Varsinais-Suomen keskisuuren kaupungin keskitetyn palvelun koulussa (ent. erityiskoulu) sopeutumattomille oppilaille. Tutkimukseen osallistuneet ovat 11-12-vuotiaita ja saaneet itse päättää osallistumisestaan, vaikka huoltajien lupa tutkimuksen tekoon on myös erikseen pyydetty. Tutkija on tyttötutkimuksellaan antaa äänen tytöille itselleen ja heidän käsityksilleen sosiaalisista suhteistaan koulussa. Tutkimustulokset osoittavat tyttöjen onnistuneen solmimaan niin kaveruus- kuin ystävyyssuhteitakin koulussa. Luodut ystävyyssuhteet ovat pääasiallisesti tyttöjen välisiä eivätkä ne ole ristiriidattomia, vaikka ovatkin haastateltujen mukaan pitkäikäisiä. Tyttöjen suhteet myös opettajiin ovat pääasiassa positiivisia. Turvallinen ja empaattinen aikuinen mahdollistaa sen, että tytöt tulevat kuulluiksi, mutta myös sen, että he voivat keskittyä opiskeluunsa koulupäivien aikana.

Replacing traditional ERP with EAI - the next generation’s ERP

Organizations often consider investing in a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system as a way to enhance their business processes, as it allows integrating information used by multiple different departments into a harmonized computing system. The hope of gaining significant business benefits, such as reducing operating costs, is the key reason why organizations have decided to invest in ERP systems since 1990’s. Still, all ERP projects do not end up in success, and deployment of ERP system does not necessarily guarantee the results people were waiting for. This research studies why organizations invest in ERP, but also what downsides ERP projects currently have. Additionally Enterprise Application Integrations (EAI) as next generation’s ERP solutions are studied to challenge and develop traditional ERP. The research questions are: What are the weaknesses in traditional ERP deployment in today’s business? How does the proposed next generation’s ERP answer to these weaknesses? At the beginning of the thesis, as an answer to the first research question, the basics of ERP implementation are introduced with both the pros and cons of investing in ERP. Key concepts such as IS integration and EAI are also studied. Empirical section of the thesis focuses on answering the second research question from the integration approach. A qualitative research is executed by interviewing five experienced IT professionals about EAI benefits, limitations, and problems. The thematic interview and questionnaire follow the presented ERP main elements from literature. The research shows that adopting traditional ERP includes multiple downsides, e.g. inflexibility and requiring big investments in terms of money. To avoid these critical issues, organizations could find a solution from integrations between their current IS. Based on the empirical study a new framework for the next generation’s ERP is created, consisting of a model and a framework that deal with various features regarding IS adoption. With this framework organizations can assess whether they should implement EAI or ERP. The model and framework suggest that there are multiple factors IT managers needs to consider when planning their IT investments, including their current IS, role of IT in the organization, as well as new system’s flexibility, investment level, and number of vendors. The framework created in the thesis encourages IT management to assess holistically their i) organization, ii) its IT, and iii) solution requirements in order to determine what kind of IS solution would suit their needs the best.

Replacing traditional ERP with EAI - the next generation’s ERP

Organizations often consider investing in a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system as a way to enhance their business processes, as it allows integrating information used by multiple different departments into a harmonized computing system. The hope of gaining significant business benefits, such as reducing operating costs, is the key reason why organizations have decided to invest in ERP systems since 1990’s. Still, all ERP projects do not end up in success, and deployment of ERP system does not necessarily guarantee the results people were waiting for. This research studies why organizations invest in ERP, but also what downsides ERP projects currently have. Additionally Enterprise Application Integrations (EAI) as next generation’s ERP solutions are studied to challenge and develop traditional ERP. The research questions are: What are the weaknesses in traditional ERP deployment in today’s business? How does the proposed next generation’s ERP answer to these weaknesses? At the beginning of the thesis, as an answer to the first research question, the basics of ERP implementation are introduced with both the pros and cons of investing in ERP. Key concepts such as IS integration and EAI are also studied. Empirical section of the thesis focuses on answering the second research question from the integration approach. A qualitative research is executed by interviewing five experienced IT professionals about EAI benefits, limitations, and problems. The thematic interview and questionnaire follow the presented ERP main elements from literature. The research shows that adopting traditional ERP includes multiple downsides, e.g. inflexibility and requiring big investments in terms of money. To avoid these critical issues, organizations could find a solution from integrations between their current IS. Based on the empirical study a new framework for the next generation’s ERP is created, consisting of a model and a framework that deal with various features regarding IS adoption. With this framework organizations can assess whether they should implement EAI or ERP. The model and framework suggest that there are multiple factors IT managers needs to consider when planning their IT investments, including their current IS, role of IT in the organization, as well as new system’s flexibility, investment level, and number of vendors. The framework created in the thesis encourages IT management to assess holistically their i) organization, ii) its IT, and iii) solution requirements in order to determine what kind of IS solution would suit their needs the best.

Perhetutkimus ja normatiivisuuden mörkö

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